STRASBOURG, Dec 14 (AFP) - The European Parliament on Thursday urged the
EU
to re-evaluate its relations with Ivory Coast, pushing the 15 nations to
hold
talks with Abidjan to ensure a "re-establishment of democracy" there.
   The European deputies passed an emergency resolution, asking EU member
states to work with Abidjan to fix a date for new legislative elections "as
soon as possible and without the exclusion of candidates for ethnic
reasons".
   General elections took place Sunday in Ivory Coast, with new President
Laurent Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front taking the most seats in parliament.
   But former prime minister Alassane Ouattara, leader of the Rally of
Republicans was barred from standing, just as he was kept from running in
presidential elections in October, because of doubts about his nationality.
   His opponents say he is Burkinabe and not fully Ivorian -- accusations
which have struck a chord with many in the Muslim north of the country, who
say they feel excluded with power in the hands of rulers from the Christian
south.
   Ouattara's party boycotted Sunday's elections.
   European deputies said they were worried about the "xenophobic flare-up
arising from the concept of Ivorian nationality, and the recourse to the use
of force to resolve political differences."
   Ouattara's supporters have clashed violently with police on several
occasions in the last two months: first after October's presidential polls
and
then ahead of Sunday's vote.
   clr/sst/rmb

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